What were the major ideas of Romanticism, and how were they expressed in opposition to earlier traditions?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Romanticism embraced emotion, individuality, and new forms of expression in a reaction against the cold sterility and rationalism of the Enlightenment, but also contradicted the more conservative restoration of tradition in Metternich's scheme. Romanticism rejected the restraints of traditional institutions and the ideals of middle-class respectability. It was centered in a philosophy of life that emphasized unity, organic growth, inspiration, and creative genius. It rejected suppression of individuals and their ideas and emphasized the spiritual and mystical connection of humans with nature. Poetry emphasized the glories of nature, landscapes, and flowers. Painters sought out exotic locales and common people as subjects. Women were given greater room for participation in the Romantic movement. Earlier Enlightenment opinion had catalogued women as weak due to their emotionalism and sentimental natures, but these features were praised and valued in the Romantic era. Men and women often worked together in partnership to produce literary and artistic works. Nationalists began to view Romanticism as an interconnection that spoke to the culture of a people, rather than the directives of a state, and each nation began to celebrate their artists as representing the true nature of the country, for example, Goethe in Germany, Onegin in Russia, and Chopin in Poland.